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Governing Body

The role of the school’s Governing Body is to provide a strategic steer and to support and challenge the school by:

Setting the direction of the school by approving the school’s annual improvement plan.

Resourcing school priorities by setting the school’s budget.

Acting on behalf of the Local Authority as the employer of staff at the school and carrying out all the usual employers’ duties such as appointment, pay progression, dealing with serious disciplinary issues and issues of staff capability.

Holding the school and particularly the Headteacher to account for school performance.

Supporting the school by attending regular governors’ meetings and other formal school occasions and celebrations subject to availability.

Governors meet once per term as a full body. Most of their work is done through committees which also meet termly. There are four standing committees and their responsibilities are outlined below (these are not exhaustive lists);

The Standards and Effectiveness Group (SEG) which consists of the Chair, Vice Chairs and one other governor. This committee looks specifically at areas of school performance and holds the school to account. A part of this committee looks specifically at Sixth Form standards.

The Curriculum and Staffing Committee chaired by the Chair of Governors, George Slawinski, which considers all matters pertaining to teaching, the curriculum, staff training and HR.

The Finance and General Purposes Committee chaired by Vice Chair of Governors, John Davies, which considers all matters of school finance, premises and health and safety.

The Pupil Welfare Committee chaired by Vice Chair of Governors, Rose Halsall, which considers matters relating to attendance, pupil behaviour, use of the Pupil Premium and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

All members of the Governing Body serve on at least one of these latter three committees.

Other committees dealing with pupil and staff disciplinary matters, complaints and grievances, appeals and staff pay meet as necessary.

There are also nominated governors in areas such as Special Educational Needs, Looked After Children, Health and Safety, Child Protection and Educational Visits who report back to the governing body at their meetings.

Governors are elected from the parent body, elected from the school staff and are appointed by the school’s Foundation Trustees or the Local Authority. Some governors are co-opted onto the governing body when their expertise or experience is deemed to be beneficial. The term of office for all governors is 4 years.

The governing body has recently been reconstituted and its current composition is:

Foundation Governors

The Foundation Governors of Ormskirk School, also known as the Foundation Trustees, were instituted in 1612 to provide education for young people in the town. Initially the Foundation (a registered charity with the Charity Commission) related to Ormskirk Grammar School and when that school closed and merged with Cross Hall High School in 2001 the Foundation transferred to become the Foundation Trustees of Ormskirk School.

The Foundation Trustees are appointed from several bodies. West Lancashire Borough Council and several Parish Councils appoint members as do the local justices, the Peter Lathom Charity and Edge Hill University. The link with the initial trust is maintained by having the Earl of Stanley, Lord Derby as an ex-officio Foundation Trustee along with the vicar of Ormskirk Parish Church.

The Foundation Body has the function of providing the local children with the best possible education. It was in that clear knowledge that the Body took the brave and far-sighted decision in 2000 to reconstitute itself and to promote the fine new school that is now built and occupied on the former Cross Hall High School site.

The Foundation Body meets once per term and has two highly important jobs:

It appoints five of the school’s Governing Body. Often these appointees will be Foundation Governors themselves but on occasion they have not been so.

It takes strategic control of the management of the assets of the Trust. These assets have significantly appreciated since the Formation of Ormskirk School with the sale of the land on the former Grammar School site. The assets provide a substantial and regular source of income for the school which allows significant improvements to be made in departments around the school and allows the young people to apply for funding for expensive educational opportunities, such as foreign visits, that would otherwise be out of their reach.

The Foundation also donates the highly prized annual Foundation Governor awards for the students at the school who distinguish themselves each year, overcoming adversity and supporting others.

The Foundation Trustees celebrated their 400th anniversary on September 28th 2012. The occasion was marked by numerous events such as a gala dinner, a Founders’ Day concert with fireworks and a church service. The events allowed the Trustees to re-emphasise their relevance to the pupils, staff and parents at the school today.